All Mainframe on Aired Site

Published on January 2017 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 26 | Comments: 0 | Views: 266
of 41
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content

Is there any entry for TSQs in CICS tables? Yes in the DFHTST. What is the use of DCT? Destination Control Table used to define TDQs What is ENQ, DEQ ? Task control commands to make resources serially reusable. Can you issue SQL COMMIT from a CICS program? – Yes. What is the other way of terminating a transaction? – EXEC CICS SYNCPOINT. Assuming it is a LUW. This will not end the Xn. What is an ASRA abend ? Any data exception problem SOC7, SOC4 etc. What is an AEY9 abend ? DB2/IDMS not up. What are the situations under which NEWCOPY is required ? When a program has been used in CICS atleast once and then changed and recompiled. What is 2 phase commit? What is EXEC CICS RETRIEVE ? Used by STARTed tasks to get the parameters passed to them. Name some important fields in the EIB block ? EIBRESP, EIBCALEN, EIBRRCDE, EIBTASK, EIBDATE, EIBTIME Can you use DYNAMIC calls in CICS ? Yes, the called routine must be defined in PPT and the calling program must use CALL identifier.. How do you handle errors in CICS pgms ? Check EIBRESP after the call or use the HANDLE condition. Suppose pgm A passes 30 bytes to pgm B thru commarea and pgm B has defined its DFHCOMMAREA to be 50 bytes . Is there a problem ? Yes, if B tries to access bytes 31-50. When an XCTL is done, does the tranid change ? Is a new task created ? Does it cause an implicit SYNCPOINT to be issued ? No, No, Yes. How do you execute a background CICS txn ? With a START or ATI. How do you handle error in a CICS program? Same as 36. What is the difference between START and XCTL ? START is used to start a new task. It is a interval control command. XCTL is used to pass control to a program within the same task. It is a program control command.

What is the usage of language in the PPT entry? Language interface and call parameters??? Can you have CICS code in a copybook? If yes, what happens during compilation? Yes. Needs to be preprocessed. What is an AICA abend? Runaway Task. How would you resolve an ASRA abend? In COBOL II start with CEBR, and get the offset/instruction. I invoke a transaction from CICS. The program has a code: MOVE DFHCOMMAREA TO WS-AREA. What happens to this transaction? What happens to the other transactions? Junk may get moved in. Will cause Storage violation. When you do a START, what will the value of EIBCALEN? Zero. How are VSAM files Read in CICS pgms? – File Control Commands. Random, Sequential, forward and backward. How will you access a VSAM file using an alternate index? Thru the path. Define path as an FCT and use normal File control commands. How do you rollback data written to an ESDS file? Define the file as recoverable. in cases where records have been inserted into the file, you may need to run a batch program to logically delete the inserted records. I have done a START BROWSE on a VSAM dataset. Can I do another START BROWSE without doing an END BROWSE? No. Can you access QSAM (seq ) files from CICS ? No. Can you access ESDS files from CICS ? Yes. What is CICS ? CICS - Customer Information Control System CICS is a telecommunications monitor software product from IBM. The IBM mainframe operating systems are batch and time-sharing. CICS supports the development and execution of online applications. It does this by communicating with terminals and sending and receiving fomatted data.- accessing files and database CICS itself is batch job running on the operating system with high priority. CICS does scheduling of programs that run under the CICS region.

1. How do you place the cursor on a particular position on the screen? –
Move -1 to the length attribute of the field annd use the CURSOR option. 2. Define the field with IC in the BMS map. Use CURSOR(n m)??

3. What are the two outputs created as a result of generation of a map? – The map copybook and the load module. 4. What is the difference between physical map and symbolic map? – The physical map is the load module and the symbolic map is the data structure. 5. How do you protect a field from being overlaid? What is the attribute byte? – Defines the display/transmission of field. most cases is an output field from the program. 6. How do you use extended attributes ? Define EXTATT=YES and the correct terminal type. 7. What are the 3 working storage fields used for every field on the map? – Length, attribute and input/output field. 8. What is MDT? What are FSET, FRSET ? Modified Data Tag. Bit in the attribute byte indicating modification of field on screen. Happens on an input operation. FSET. Sets MDT on to ensure field is transmitted. Happens on an output operation. FRSET. Resets MDT. Until this happens, field continues to be sent. 9. What is the use of DSECT parameter in BMS? Is the parameter to generate a symbolic map. 10. Do you receive the attribute byte in the symbolic map? On EOF yes. 11. How do you make your BMS maps case sensitive? Use ASIS??? 12. What is effect on RECEIVE MAP when PF key is pressed? Data transmission may happen, PA key is pressed? Data transmission will not happen. 13. What are SEND MAP MAPONLY & SEND MAP DATAONLY ? MAPONLY - to send the map alone, without any data. Eg: used for sending Menu screens. DATAONLY - to send data alone, without sending the screen layout again. Eg: used for refreshing the screen data. 14. What is the difference between a PF key & a PA key ? PF keys wake up the task and transmit modified data, PA keys only wake up the task. 15. Name the macros used to define the following: MAP MAPSET FIELD DFHMSD DFHMDI DFHMDF 16. Can you use OCCURS in a BMS map? If you do, what are the issues related with its use? Yes. cannot use group by clause??? 17. Can you define multiple maps in a BMS mapset? Yes. 18. How is the storage determined in the symbolic map, if you have multiple maps?

Storage for maps redefine the first. This means largest map has to be the first. 19. What is the meaning of BMS length of field = 0? Data was not entered in the field 20. Can you simply check if length = 0 for checking if a field was modified? No, not if ERASE EOF was used. 21. What do you do if you do not want characters entered by the user to be folded to uppercase ? Use ASIS option on RECEIVE. 22. What does the BUFFER option in RECEIVE mean ? Brings the entire datastream from the terminal buffer. 23. What are the steps you go through to a create a BMS executable? Assemble to create CSECT and Link 24. When you compile a CICS program, the (pre)compiler puts an extra chunk of code. Where does it get included and that is it called? What is its length? DFHEIBLK, DFHCOMMAREA. 25. List all the CICS tables and explain their contents. – PPT SIT PCT JCT FCT SNT DCT SRT RCT TCT 26. I have written a CICS program. What tables should I setup to run this program? – PPT, PCT, (FCT, DCT, RCT (if needed)). 27. In which table would you make an entry for a BMS map? – PPT 28. What is the content of the PPT entry? – Length, Source, Use count, Lang, Res count DFHRPL number 29. For a CICS-DB2 program, how is the plan referenced? – Uses a RCT table. 30. How is dynamic memory allocated within a CICS application program? – Use a GETMAIN 31. What are the restrictions while using GETMAIN and FREEMAIN? – ????????????????????? 32. What is the use of a TDQ, TSQ? – Temporary data stores. 33. How do you read from a TSQ? – Temp storage read command. 34. If I create a TSQ from one transaction, can I read it from another transaction? – Yes. As long as they run in the same region.

35. What are extra partition & intra partition TDQs? Extra partition TDQs are datasets used for communication b’n CICS and other CICS/Batch regions. Intrapartition TDQs are queues for communication within regn.

Q1 - What is MDT ? Ans - Bit in the attribute byte indicating modification of field on screen.If the user keys in any data into the field, it turns the MDT ON indicating that the data is modified. To save transmission time , 3270 terminal sends a field over the TC line only if the MDT is on. Otherwise, the field value is not transmitted. Q2 - What is DFHCOMMAREA ? Ans - DFHCOMMAREA in the Linkage section is used to pass the data in working storage commarea from one to program to another program. It should be defined with as at least one byte long. As the working storage section is freshly allocated for every execution. Q3- What is Execution Interface Block (EIB) ? Ans - EIB is a CICS area that contains information related to the current task, which can be used for debugging the program. The most widely used variables are EIBDATE, EIBTIME, EIBAID, EIBCALEN, EIBCPOSN, EIBRESP, EIBRSRCE (resource), EIBFN (recent CICS command code), EIBTRMID and EIBTRNID. Q4- What are the important tables used in the CICS-DB2 environment ? Ans - CICS manages it's communication with DB2 with special interface modules called CICS/DB2 Attachment Facility. When a CICS program issues a SQL statement, CICS requests the attachment facility to establish a connection with DB2 called a thread. The information about the CICS transaction and DB2 is entered in Resource Control Table (RCT). The plan information is referenced through the RCT Entries. Q5- What are the various commands used to browse through a dataset ? Ans - STARTBR, READNEXT, READPREV and RESETBR. The options used are DATASET, RIDFLD, RRN/RBA, GENERIC, and KEYLENGTH for the 3 commands, and INTO, LENGTH for READNEXT and READPREV command, and EQUAL/GTEQ for STARTBR only. RESP can be used with any. ENDBR is used to end the browse operation Q6- What is 2 phase commit ? Ans - It occurs when a programmer Issue's an Exec CICS Syncpoint command. This is called a two phase Commit because CICS will first commit changes to the resources under its control like VSAM files, before DB2 changes are committed. Usually CICS signals DB2 to complete the next phase and release all the locks. Q7- What are ASRA,AICA,AEY9 abend ? Ans - ASRA - Any data exception problem SOC7, SOC4 etc AICA - Runaway Task. AEY9 - DB2/IDMS Database is not up. Q8 What are the differences between TSQ and a TDQ ? Ans – (1) In Temporary Storage Queues Data is read randomly, While in Transient Data Queues data must be read sequentially. (2) In a TSQ data can be read any number of times as it remains in the queue until the entire Queue is deleted. In TDQ data item can be read once only. To reuse the TDQ it must be closed and reopened. (3) Data can be changed in TSQ, but not in TDQ.

(4) TSQ can be written to Auxiliary or Main Storage, while TDQ is written to Disk. Temporary storage is a holding place, while Transient data is always associated with destination. The (5) TSQ name is defined dynamically, while a TDQ name need to be defined in the DCT. Note: An application uses TSQ 's to pass info' from task to task, while a TDQ to accumulate records before processing or send data for external use, such as a print operation or other. Q9- What are Extra partition & Intra partition TDQs ? Ans - Extra-partition TDQ's are datasets used for communication between CICS and other CICS/Batch regions. Intra-partition TDQ's are queues for communication within CICS region. CICS stores the Intra-partition TDQ in a dataset 'DFHNTRA' on the Disk. Extra-partition TDQ doesn't have to be a disk file, it can reside on any device that's a valid QSAM/VSAM. The DCT entry contains the destination-Id, type of TDQ, Destination, Trigger level if needed Q10 How is an Abend handled in a CICS program ? Ans - The HANDLE ABEND command is used to trap and Handle errors. It has 4 possible options and only one of them can be used with this command at a time. The options are Program(...) to transfer control to the program, Label(...) to transfer control to the specified paragraph, Cancel option keeps the earlier Handle Abends from being executed. Reset option will reactivate the Handle Abend commands, which were previously cancelled. Q11 What is Quasi-reentrancy ? Ans - There are times when many users are concurrently using the same program, this is what we call Multi-Threading. For example, 50 users are using program A, CICS will provide 50 Working storage for that program but one Procedure Division. And this technique is known as quasi-reentrancy. 1. What is trigger level in the context of TDQs? For intrapartition TDQs specify the # records at which ATI happens. not applicable for extra partition TDQs. 2.How do you fire a batch job from a CICS txn ? Define an extrapartition TDQ as an internal reader and write the JCL to it. Terminate the JCL with /*EOF. 3. What is ATI? What kind of TDQ can be used? Automatic Task Initiation. Intra partition TDQ. 4. Do you require a table entry for a TSQ? If recovery is needed. 5. Is there any entry for TSQs in CICS tables? Yes in the DFHTST. 6. What is the use of DCT? Destination Control Table used to define TDQs 7. What is ENQ, DEQ ? Task control commands to make resources serially reusable. 8. I have TSQ with 15 items. I want to delete the 10th item. How do I do that? 9. Can you issue SQL COMMIT from a CICS program? – Yes. 10. What is the other way of terminating a transaction? – EXEC CICS SYNCPOINT. Assuming it is a LUW. This will not end the Xn.

11. What is an ASRA abend ? Any data exception problem SOC7, SOC4 etc. 12. What is an AEY9 abend ? DB2/IDMS not up. 13. What are the situations under which NEWCOPY is required ? When a program has been used in CICS atleast once and then changed and recompiled. 14. What is 2 phase commit? What is EXEC CICS RETRIEVE ? Used by STARTed tasks to get the parameters passed to them. 15. Name some important fields in the EIB block ? EIBRESP, EIBCALEN, EIBRRCDE, EIBTASK, EIBDATE, EIBTIME 16. Can you use DYNAMIC calls in CICS ? Yes, the called routine must be defined in PPT and the calling program must use CALL identifier.. 17. How do you handle errors in CICS pgms ? Check EIBRESP after the call or use the HANDLE condition. 18. Suppose pgm A passes 30 bytes to pgm B thru commarea and pgm B has defined its DFHCOMMAREA to be 50 bytes . Is there a problem ? Yes, if B tries to access bytes 31-50. 19.When an XCTL is done, does the tranid change ? Is a new task created ? Does it cause an implicit SYNCPOINT to be issued ? No, No, Yes. 20. How do you execute a background CICS txn ? With a START or ATI. 21. Can a CICS region be attached to more than one DB2 subsystem ? 22. What determines the DB2 subsystem to which a particular CICS region is attached ? 23. What is the DSNC transaction used for ? 24. How do you handle error in a CICS program? 25. What is the difference between START and XCTL ? START is used to start a new task. It is a interval control command. XCTL is used to pass control to a program within the same task. It is a program control command. 26. What is the usage of language in the PPT entry? Language interface and call parameters??? 27. Can you have CICS code in a copybook? If yes, what happens during compilation? Yes. Needs to be preprocessed. 28. What is an AICA abend? Runaway Task.

29. How would you resolve an ASRA abend? In COBOL II start with CEBR, and get the offset/instruction. 30. How do I find the name of the CICS region inside my COBOL program? 31. When you do a START, what will the value of EIBCALEN? Zero. 32. How are VSAM files Read in CICS pgms? – File Control Commands. Random, Sequential, forward and backward. 33. How will you access a VSAM file using an alternate index? Thru the path. Define path as an FCT and use normal File control commands. 34. How do you rollback data written to an ESDS file? Define the file as recoverable. in cases where records have been inserted into the file, you may need to run a batch program to logically delete the inserted records. 35. I have done a START BROWSE on a VSAM dataset. Can I do another START BROWSE without doing an END BROWSE? No. 36. Can you access QSAM (seq ) files from CICS ? No. 37. Can you access ESDS files from CICS ? Yes. 73. What is CICS ? CICS - Customer Information Control System CICS is a telecommunications monitor software product from IBM. The IBM mainframe operating systems are batch and time-sharing. CICS supports the development and execution of online applications. It does this by - communicating with terminals - sending and receiving fomatted data - accessing files and database CICS itself is batch job running on the operating system with high priority. CICS does scheduling of programs that run under the CICS region. 1. What is the meaning for CICS? Customer Information Control System. 2. What do we do by using CICS? CICS is normally used for Real-time or Online processing when that particular processing cannot wait for batch processing normally done at the end of the day for most installations. 3. What are the eight steps for a CICS program development? Get the complete specification Get related sourcebooks and subprograms Design the program Update the CICS Tables Code and compile the map definition Code the program Compile the program Test the program. 4. In a CICS development, do you compile the map or program first?

2.

The map needs to be compiled first. 5. What is a transaction id or code? A transaction is mostly a four letter unique predefined unit of work, a terminal work will use to invoke a specific map and the associated program. 6. What is a PCT and how it is used? A PCT is a short name for Program Control Table, which contains the trans-id and the associated program which will be invoked when the trans-id is used. 7. What is a PPT and how it is used? A PPT contains a valid list of program names and it also indicates the storage address if the program has already been loaded. CICS uses PPT to determine whether it will load a new copy of the program if the program is invoked. 8. Have you ever heard of SNT in CICS Processing? Yes, it contains the names of all valid users of the system. 9. What is the use of DFHCOMMAREA and where it is located? It helps to transfer data between two transactions and it is located in the LINKAGE SECTION. 10. Are you familiar with CEMT and CSMT functions? What does these transactions do for you? These are normally supervisory functions, where they can be used to cancel tasks running at a different terminals. CSMT is used to update PPT. But I never had much chance to use them. 11. What transaction will you use to debug a CICS Program? CEDF, which means CICS Execution Diagnostic facility. 12. What XCTL and LINK command is used for? XCTL command transfers control to another program without setting up a return mechanism whereas the LINK command transfers control to next logical lower level with a return mechanism 13. Why the EXEC CICS HANDLE command is used? It is used to specify what action the program needs to take when certain exceptional conditions occur. 14. Why the EXEC CICS RETURN command is used? It is used simply to return control to CICS with no option and the terminal session ends. 15. What are the parameters will you use to code a SEND MAP command? SEND MAP(name of the map) MAPSET(name of the mapset which contains the specific map) FROM(specifies the symbolic map) MAPONLY(specifies dataonly needs to be sent) DATAONLY(specifies that only data from the symbolic map needs to be sent) ERASE/ERASEUP CURSOR 16. How do you terminate each CICS commands? EXEC CICS intermediate commands END-EXEC.

17. How do you obtain the storage dump from CICS? CICS automatically adds the storage dump to a special file called dump data set. When the CICS is terminated, the dumps are automatically printed. The DSN can be found from the respective installation personnel. 18. What is the meaning for AEI9 CICS abend? MAPFAIL. 19. What are the following entities represent? EIBAID It is an one character field that indicates which attention key was used for the last RECEIVE command. EIBTRMID This field supplies the name of the terminal running the task. EIBCALEN This field represents the length of the communication area passed to my program. If no commarea is passed, it is set to zero. 20. How do you logoff from a CICS transaction? Blank the screen, then type CSSF LOGOFF.

COBOBLLLLLLLL
Can a SEARCH be applied to a table which does not have an INDEX defined? Ans: No, the table must be indexed. What is the difference between SEARCH and SEARCH ALL? Ans: SEARCH - is a serial search. SEARCH ALL - is a binary search & the table must be sorted ( ASCENDING/DESCENDING KEY clause to be used & data loaded in this order) before using SEARCH ALL. What should be the sorting order for SEARCH ALL? Ans: It can be either ASCENDING or DESCENDING. ASCENDING is default. If you want the search to be done on an array sorted in descending order, then while defining the array, you should give DESCENDING KEY clause. (You must load the table in the specified order). What is binary search? Ans: Search on a sorted array. Compare the item to be searched with the item at the center. If it matches, fine else repeat the process with the left half or the right half depending on where the item lies. Can a SEARCH be applied to a table which does not have an INDEX defined? Ans: No, the table must be indexed. A table has two indexes defined. Which one will be used by the SEARCH verb? Ans: The index named first will be used, by Search. What are the different rules applicable to perform a binary SEARCH? Ans: The table must be sorted in ascending or descending order before the beginning of the SEARCH. Use OCCURS clause with ASC/DESC KEY IS dataname1 option The table must be indexed. There is no need to set the index value. Use SEARCH ALL verb How does the binary search work? Ans: First the table is split into two halves and in which half, the item need to be searched is determined. The half to which the desired item may belong is again divided into two halves and

the previous procedure is followed. This continues until the item is found. SEARCH ALL is efficient for tables larger than 70 items. What is the difference between a binary search and a sequential search? What are the pertinent COBOL commands? Ans: In a binary search the table element key values must be in ascending or descending sequence. The table is 'halved' to search for equal to, greater than or less than conditions until the element is found. In a sequential search the table is searched from top to bottom, so (ironically) the elements do not have to be in a specific sequence. The binary search is much faster for larger tables, While sequential Search works well with smaller ones. SEARCH ALL is used for binary searches; SEARCH for sequential. 2. How do you sort in a COBOL program? Give sort file definition, sort statement syntax and meaning. Ans: Syntax: SORT file-1 ON ASCENDING/DESCENDING KEY key. USING file-2 GIVING file-3. USING can be substituted by INPUT PROCEDURE IS para-1 THRU para-2 GIVING can be substituted by OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS para-1 THRU para-2. file-1 is the sort workfile and must be described using SD entry in FILE SECTION. file-2 is the input file for the SORT and must be described using an FD entry in FILE SECTION and SELECT clause in FILE CONTROL. file-3 is the outfile from the SORT and must be described using an FD entry in FILE SECTION and SELECT clause in FILE CONTROL. file-1, file-2 & file-3 should not be opened explicitly. INPUT PROCEDURE is executed before the sort and records must be Released to the sort work file from the input procedure. OUTPUT PROCEDURE is executed after all records have been sorted. Records from the sort work file must be Returned one at a time to the output procedure. 3. How do you define a sort file in JCL that runs the COBOL program? Ans: Use the SORTWK01, SORTWK02,..... did names in the step. Number of sort datasets depends on the volume of data being sorted, but a minimum of 3 is required. 4. Explain the difference between an internal and an external sort. The pros & cons & internal sort syntax .? Ans: An external sort is not coded as a COBOL program; it is performed through JCL and PGM=SORT. One can use IBM utility SYNCSORT for external sort process. It is understandable without any code reference. An internal sort can use two different syntaxes: 1.) USING, GIVING sorts are comparable to external sorts with no extra file processing; 2) INPUT PROCEDURE, OUTPUT PROCEDURE sorts allow for data manipulation before and/or after the sort. What is the difference between performing a SECTION and a PARAGRAPH? Ans: Performing a SECTION will cause all the paragraphs that are part of the section, to be performed. Performing a PARAGRAPH will cause only that paragraph to be performed. What kind of error is trapped by ON SIZE ERROR option? Ans: Fixed-point overflow. Zero raised to the zero power. Division by 0. Zero raised to a negative number. A negative number raised to a fractional power. What is the point of the REPLACING option of a copy statement? Ans: REPLACING allows for the same copy to be used more than once in the same code by changing the replace value. COPY xxx REPLACING BY .

When is a scope terminator mandatory? Ans: Scope terminators are mandatory for in-line PERFORMS and EVALUATE statements. For readability, it's recommended coding practice to always make scope terminators explicit. Can you use REDEFINES clause in the FILE SECTION? Ans: No How will you define your record descriptions in the FILE SECTION if you want to use three different record descriptions for the same file? Ans: FD filename DATA RECORDS ARE rd01, rd02, rd03. 01 rd01 PIC X(n). 01 rd02 PIC X(n). 01 rd03 PIC X(n). When will you open a file in the EXTEND mode? Ans: When an existing file should be appended by adding new records at its end. EXTEND mode opens the file for output, but the file is positioned following the last record on the existing file. What does a CLOSE WITH LOCK statement do? Ans: The statement closes an opened file and it prevents the file from further being opened by the same program. Which mode of opening is required when REWRITE is used? Ans: I-O mode Why is it necessary that the file be opened in I-O mode for REWRITE? Ans: Before the REWRITE is performed, the record must be read from the file. Hence REWRITE includes an input operation and an output operation. Therefore, the file must be opened in I-O mode. Which clause can be used instead of checking for FILE STATUS = 10? Ans: FILE STATUS 10 is the end of file condition. Hence AT END clause can be used. What is the format of a simple SORT verb? What kinds of files can be sorted using SORT? Ans: SORT workfile ON ASC/DESC KEY key1, ASC/DESC KEY key2 ... USING inputfile GIVING outputfile Only sequential files can be sorted in this way. How is sign stored in Packed Decimal fields and Zoned Decimal fields? Ans: Packed Decimal fields: Sign is stored as a hex value in the last nibble (4 bits ) of the storage. Zoned Decimal fields: As a default, sign is over punched with the numeric value stored in the last bite. Give some advantages of REDEFINES clause. Ans: You can REDEFINE a Variable from one PICTURE class to another PICTURE class by using the same memory location. By REDEFINES we can INITIALISE the variable in WORKINGSTORAGE Section itself.3. We can REDEFINE a Single Variable into so many sub-variables. (This facility is very useful in solving Y2000 Problem.) Why do we code s9(4)comp. Inspite of knowing comp-3 will occupy less space. Ans: Here s9(4)comp is small integer ,so two words equal to 8 bytes. Totally it will occupy 2 bytes(4 words).here in s9(4) comp-3 as one word is equal to 1/2 byte.4 words equal to 2 bytes and sign will occupy 1/2 bytes totally it will occupy 3 bytes. The maximum number of dimensions that an array can have in COBOL-85 is ________. Ans: SEVEN in COBOL - 85 and THREE in COBOL - 84 Name the divisions in a COBOL program. Ans: IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, ENVIRONMENT DIVISION, DATA DIVISION, PROCEDURE DIVISION.

What do you do to resolve SOC-7 error? Ans: There is a need ed to correct the offending data. Many times the reason for SOC7 is an uninitialized numeric item. Examine that possibility first. Many installations provide you a dump for run time abends ( it can be generated also by calling some subroutines or OS services thru assembly language). These dumps provide the offset of the last instruction at which the abend occurred. Examine the compilation output XREF listing to get the verb and the line number of the source code at this offset. Then you can look at the source code to find the bug. To get capture the runtime dumps, you will have to define some datasets (SYSABOUT etc ) in the JCL. If none of these are helpful, use judgement and DISPLAY to localize the source of error. You may even use batch program debugging tools. What are the different data types available in COBOL? Ans: Alpha-numeric (X), alphabetic (A) and numeric (9). What is level 66 used for ? Ans: For RENAMES clause. What does the IS NUMERIC clause establish? Ans: IS NUMERIC can be used on alphanumeric items, signed numeric & packed decimal items and unsigned numeric & packed decimal items. IS NUMERIC returns TRUE if the item only consists of 0-9. However, if the item being tested is a signed item, then it may contain 0-9, + and . My program has an array defined to have 10 items. Due to a bug, I find that even if the program access the 11th item in this array, the program does not abend. What is wrong with it? Ans: Must use compiler option SSRANGE if you want array bounds checking. Default is NOSSRANGE. What is the difference between performing a SECTION and a PARAGRAPH? Ans: Performing a SECTION will cause all the paragraphs that are part of the section, to be performed. Performing a PARAGRAPH will cause only that paragraph to be performed. Can I redefine an X(200) field with a field of X(100) ? Ans: Yes. What does EXIT do? Ans: Does nothing ! If used, must be the only sentence within a paragraph. How is sign stored in a comp-3 field? Ans: It is stored in the last nibble. For example if your number is +100, it stores hex 0C in the last byte, hex 1C if your number is 101, hex 1D if the number is -101, hex 2D if the number is -102 etc... How is sign stored in a COMP field ? Ans: In the most significant bit. Bit is on if -ve, off if +ve. What are some examples of command terminators? Ans: END-IF, END-EVALUATE Can I redefine an X(100) field with a field of X(200)? Ans: Yes. Redefines just causes both fields to start at the same location. For example: 01 WS-TOP PIC X(1) 01 WS-TOP-RED REDEFINES WS-TOP PIC X(2). If you MOVE '12' to WS-TOP-RED,

DISPLAY WS-TOP will show 1 while DISPLAY WS-TOP-RED will show 12. Can I redefine an X(200) field with a field of X(100) ? Ans: Yes. What care has to be taken to force program to execute above 16 Meg line? Ans: Make sure that link option is AMODE=31 and RMODE=ANY. Compile option should never have SIZE(MAX).BUFSIZE can be 2K, efficient enough. What is 77 level used for ? Ans: Elementary level item. Cannot be subdivisions of other items (cannot be qualified), nor can they be subdivided themselves. What is 88 level used for ? Ans: For defining condition names. What is the difference between search and search all in the table handling? Ans: Search is a linear search and search all is a binary search. WHAT IS REPORT-ITEM? Ans: A REPORT-item is a field to be printed that contains EDIT SYMBOLS You are writing report program with 4 levels of totals:city,state,region and country. The codes being used can be the same over the different levels, meaning a city code of 01 can be in any number of states, and the same applies to state and region code show. Do you do your checking for breaks and how do you do add to each level? Ans: Always compare on the highest-level first, because if you have a break at a highest level, each level beneath it must also break. Add to the lowest level for each rec but add to the higher level only on break. What is the Importance of GLOBAL clause According to new standards of COBOL Ans: When any data name, file-name , Record-name, condition name or Index defined in an Including Program can be referenced by a directly or indirectly in an included program, Provided the said name has been declared to be a global name by GLOBAL Format of Global Clause is01 data-1 PIC 9(5) IS GLOBAL. What is the Purpose of POINTER Phrase in STRING command Ans: The Purpose of POINTER phrase is to specify the leftmost position within receiving field where the first transferred character will be stored How do we get currentdate from system with century? Ans: By using Intrinsic function, FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE What is PSB & ACB? Ans: PSB : Program specification block. Inform about how a specific program is to be access one or more IMS DB. It consists of PCB(Prg Communication Block). Information to which segment in DB can be accessed, what the program is allowed to do with those segment and how the DB is to be accessed. ACB : Access Control Blocks are generated by IMS as an expansion of information contained in the PSB in order to speed up the access to the applicable DBD's. What is the difference between a DYNAMIC and STATIC call in COBOL. Ans: To correct an earlier answer:All called modules cannot run standalone if they require program variables passed to them via the LINKAGE section. DYNAMICally called modules are those that are not bound with the calling program at link edit time (IEWL for IBM) and so are loaded from the program library (joblib or steplib) associated with the job. For DYNAMIC calling of a module the DYNAM compiler option must be chosen, else the linkage editor will not generate

an executable as it will expect null address resolution of all called modules. A STATICally called module is one that is bound with the calling module at link edit, and therefore becomes part of the executable load module. What is the maximum length of a field you can define using COMP-3? Ans: 10 Bytes (S9(18) COMP-3). How many Sections are there in Data Division?. Ans: SIX SECTIONS 1.'FILE SECTION' 2.'WORKING-STORAGE SECTION' 3.'LOCALSTORAGE SECTION' 4.'SCREEN SECTION' 5.'REPORT SECTION' 6.'LINKAGE SECTION' In COBOL II, there are only 4 sections. 1.'FILE SECTION' 2.'WORKING-STORAGE SECTION' 3.'LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION' 4.'LINKAGE SECTION'. How can I tell if a module is being called DYNAMICALLY or STATICALLY? Ans: The ONLY way is to look at the output of the linkage editor (IEWL)or the load module itself. If the module is being called DYNAMICALLY then it will not exist in the main module, if it is being called STATICALLY then it will be seen in the load module. Calling a working storage variable, containing a program name, does not make a DYNAMIC call. This type of calling is known as IMPLICITE calling as the name of the module is implied by the contents of the working storage variable. Calling a program name literal (CALL). What's a LDS(Linear Data Set) and what's it used for ? Ans: LDS is a VSAM dataset in name only. It has unstructured 4k (4096 bytes) fixed size CIs which do not contain control fields and therefore from VSAM's standpoint they do not contain any logical records. There is no freespace, and no access from Cobol. Can be accessed by DB2 and IMS fast path datasets. LDS is essentially a table of data maintained on disk. The 'table entries' must be created via a user program and can only be logically accessed via a user program. When passed, the entire LDS must be mapped into storage, then data is accessed via base and displacement type processing. What is Pic 9v99 Indicates? Ans: PICTURE 9v99 is a three position Numeric field with an implied or assumed decimal point after the first position; the v means an implied decimal point. What guidelines should be followed to write a structured COBOL program? Ans: 1) Use 'EVALUATE' stmt for constructing cases. 2) Use scope terminators for nesting. 3)Use in-line Perform stmt for writing 'do ' constructions. 4) Use Test Before and test after in the Perform stmt for writing Do-While constructions. Read the following code. 01 ws-n PIC 9(2) value zero. a-para. move 5 to ws-n. perform b-para ws-n times. b-para. move 10 to ws-n. How many times will b-para be executed ? Ans: 5 Times only. it will not take the value 10 that is initialized in the loop. What is the difference between PIC 9.99 and 9v99? Ans: PIC 9.99 is a FOUR-POSITION field that actually contains a decimal point where as PIC 9v99 is THREE-POSITION numeric field with implied or assumed decimal position. How is PIC 9.99 is different from PIC 9v99?

Ans: PIC 9.99 is a four position field that actually contains a decimal point where as 9v99 is a three position numeric field with an implied or assumed decimal point. What is an explicit scope terminator? Ans:A scope terminator brackets its preceding verb, eg. IF .. END-IF, so that all statements between the verb and its scope terminator are grouped together. Other common COBOL II verbs are READ, PERFORM, EVALUATE, SEARCH and STRING. What are the different forms of EVALUATE statement? Ans: EVALUATE EVALUATE SQLCODE ALSO FILE-STATUS WHEN A=B AND C=D WHEN 100 ALSO '00' Imperative stmt imperative stmt WHEN (D+X)/Y = 4 WHEN -305 ALSO '32' imperative stmt imperative stmt WHEN OTHER WHEN OTHER imperative stmt imperative stmt END-EVALUATE END-EVALUATE EVALUATE SQLCODE ALSO A=B EVALUATE SQLCODE ALSO TRUE WHEN 100 ALSO TRUE WHEN 100 ALSO A=B imperative stmt imperative stmt WHEN -305 ALSO FALSE WHEN -305 ALSO (A/C=4) imperative stmt imperative stmt END-EVALUATE END-EVALUATE Can you use the INSPECT (with TALLYING option) Cobol verb in a CICS COBOL program? Ans: Yes, under COBOL II environment, but not OS/VS COBOL. What is the significance of 'above the line' and 'below the line'? Ans: Before IBM introduced MVS/XA architecture in the 1980's a program's virtual storage was limited to 16 megs. Programs compiled with a 24-bit mode can only address 16 MB of space, as though they were kept under an imaginary storage line. With COBOL II a program compiled with a 31 bit mode can be 'above the 16 Mb line. (This 'below the line', 'above the line' imagery confuses most mainframe programmers, who tend to be a literal minded group.) What was removed from COBOL in the COBOL II implementation? Ans: Partial list: REMARKS, NOMINAL KEY, PAGE-COUNTER, CURRENT-DAY, TIME-OFDAY, STATE, FLOW, COUNT, EXAMINE, EXHIBIT, READY TRACE and RESET TRACE. Explain call by context by comparing it to other calls. Ans: The parameters passed in a call by context are protected from modification by the called program. In a normal call they are able to be modified. What is the difference between comp and comp-3 usage? Explain other COBOL usages. Ans:Comp is a binary usage, while comp-3 indicates packed decimal. The other common usages are binary and display. Display is the default. Comp is defined as the fastest/preferred numeric data type for the machine it runs on. IBM Mainframes are typically binary and AS400's are packed.' What are the possible causes for S0C1 & S0C4 abends? Ans: A S0C1 occurs if the CPU attempts to execute binary code that isn't a valid machine instruction; e.g. if you attempt to execute data. A S0C4 is a memory protection violation. This occurs if a program attempts to access storage beyond the areas assigned to it.

What happens when we move a comp-3 field to an edited ( say z(9).zz-) Ans: The editing characters are to be used with data items with usage clause as display, which is the default. When you try displaying a data item with usage as computational it does not give the desired display format because the data item is stored as packed decimal. So if u want this particular data item to be edited u have to move it into a data item whose usage is display and then have that particular data item edited in the format desired. What are the causes for S0C1, S0C4, S0C5, S0C7, S0CB abends Ans: S0C1 - May be due to 1.Missing or misspelled DD name 2.Read/Write to unopened dataset 3.Read to dataset opened output 4.Write to dataset opened input 5.Called subprogram not found. S0C4 may be due to 1.Missing Select statement(during compile) 2.Bad Subscript/index 3.Protection Exception 4.Missing parameters on called subprogram 5.Read/Write to unopened file 6.Move data from/to unopened file. S0C5 May be due to 1.Bad Subscript/index 2.Close an unopen dataset 3.Bad exit from a perform 4.Access to I/O area(FD) before read. S0C7 may be due to 1.Numeric operation on non-numeric data 2.Un-initialize working-storage 3.Coding past the maximum allowed sub script. S0CB may be due to 1.Division by Zero What will happen if you code GO BACK instead of STOP RUN in a stand-alone COBOL program i.e. a program which is not calling any other program. Ans: Both give the same results when a program is not calling any other program. What is the difference between an External and a Global Variable 's? Ans: Global variables are accessible only to the batch program whereas external variables can be referenced from any batch program residing in the same system library.

DB2222222222222222 Q: What is JOIN and what are the different types of JOIN. A: The ability to join rows and combine data from two or more tables is one of the most powerful features of relational system. There are three type of joins:1. Equi-join; 2.Non-equijoin; 3.self-join Q: Which is the most widely used batch performance monitor for DB2? A: DB2PM Q: Can I alter a table (like adding a column) when other user is selecting some columns or updating some columns from the same table? A: Yes. It is possible until the updating or selection is committed, DB2 table will not be restructured. New column definition will be there but it will not be included until all the tasks on the table are committed. Q: How many subqueries can you combine together ? A: Total 16 queries and subqueries are 15 Q: What are the different methods of accessing DB2 from TSO? How is the connection established between TSO & DB2? A: There are three ways in establishing TSO/DB2 connection 1. SPUFI 2. QMF 3. CATALOG VISIBILITY; A thread between TSO & DB2 is established while attempting to make connection between TSO & DB2. Q: How many buffer bools are available in DB2? A: Ten 32K size bufferpools and fifty 4K size buffer pools (BP0 to BP49). Default buffer pools are BP0, BP1, BP2 & BP32

Q: What is B37 abend during SPUFI? A: The B37 ABEND in the SPUFI is because of space requirements. The query has resulted in so many rows that the SPUFI.OUT file is not large enough to handle it; One possible solution is to increase the space allocation of SPUFI.OUT file. Q: What is the command used by TSO users to invoke DB2? A: DSN RUN Q: What is the error code -803 ? A: Unique Index violation Q: How do you filter out the rows retrieved from a DB2 table? A: One way is to use the SQL WHERE clause. Q: What is a collection? A: A collection is something that every programmer should assign/specify for every package. This is about 1-18 characters long. Q: What is Skeleton Cursor Table (SKCT)? A: The Executable form of a Plan. This is stored in SYSIBM.SCT02 table. Q: What is the equivalent Cobol Data type for Decimal (x,y) in DB2? What does the current SQLID register contain? A: PIC S9(X-Y)V9(Y) COMP-3; The current SQLID contains the current authorization ID. Q: Can we declare DB2 HOST variable in COBOL COPY book? A: NO. If we declare DB2 host variable in COBOL COPY book, at the time of Pre-compilation we get the host variable not defined, because pre-compiler will not expand COBOL COPY book. So we declare it either in DCLGEN with EXEC SQL INCLUDE DCLGEN NAME END-EXEC or we directly hardcode it in the working storage section. Q: What should be specified along with a cursor in order to continue updating process after COMMIT? A: With Hold option. Q: What is the name of the default DB2 catalog database? A: DSNDB06 Q: When can you be sure that a query will return only one row? A: When you use the primary key and only the primary key in the WHERE clause. Q: What is the difference between JOIN and UNION? A: JOIN is used to retrieve data from different tables using a single SQL statement. UNION is used to combine the results of two or more SQL queries. Q: What is a correlated subquerry? A: In a subquerry, if the outer query refers back to the outcome of inner query it is called correlated subquerry. That's why the outer query is evaluated first unlike an ordinary subquerry Q: What are the functions of Bind? A: BIND mainly performs two things: Syntax checking and Authorization checking. It binds together all packages into an application plan hence the name BIND. Apart from this bind has optimizer as a subcomponent. Its function is to determine the optimum access strategy.

What is an intent lock? An intent lock is at the table level for a segmented table space or at the table space level for a non segmented table space They indicate at the table or table space level the kinds of locks at lower levels. What is the difference between Static and Dynamic SQL? Static SQL is hard-coded in a program when the programmer knows the statements to be executed For dynamic SQL the program must dynamically allocate memory to receive the query results. What is cursor stability? Cursor stability means that DB2 takes a lock on the page the cursor is accessing and releases the lock when the cursor moves to another page. What is the significance of the CURSOR WITH HOLD clause in a cursor declaration? The clause avoids closing the cursor and repositioning it to the last row processed when the cursor is reopened. What is the SQL Communications Area and what are some of its key fields? It is a data structure that must be included in any host-language program using SQL It is used to pass feedback about the SQL operations to the program Fields are return codes, error messages, Handling codes and warnings. What is the purpose of the WHENEVER statement? The WHENEVER statement is coded once in the host program to control program actions depending on the SQL-CODE returned by each SQL statement within the program. What is DCLGEN? A DCLGEN stands for declarations generator; it is a facility to generate DB2 SQL data structures in COBOL or PL/1 programs. What is the FREE command? The FREE command can be used to delete plans and/or packages no longer Needed. DB2 can implement a join in three ways using a merge join, a nested join or a hybrid join Explain the differences. A merge join requires that the tables being joined be in a sequence; the rows are retrieved with a high cluster ratio index or are sorted by DB2 A nested join does not require a sequence and works best on joining a small number of rows DB2 reads the outer table values and each time scans the inner table for matches The hybrid join is a nested join that requires the outer table be in sequence. Compare a sub select to a join. Any sub select can be rewritten as a join, but not vice versa Joins are usually more efficient as join rows can be returned immediately, sub selects require a temporary work area for inner selects results while processing the outer select. What is the difference between IN sub selects and EXISTS sub select? If there is an index on the attributes tested an IN is more efficient since DB2 uses the index for the IN (IN for index is the mnemonic). What is a Cartesian product? A Cartesian product results from a faulty query It is a row in the results for every combination in the join tables. What is the difference between a package and a plan?

How does one bind 2 versions of a CICS transaction with the same module name in two different CICS regions that share the same DB2 subsystem? Package and plan are usually used synonymously as in this site Both contain optimized code for SQL statements - a package for a single program, module or subroutine contained in the data base request module (DBRM) library A plan may contain multiple packages and pointers to packages The one CICS module would then exist in a package that could be referenced in two different plans. What is an asychronous write? It is a write to disk that may occur before or long after a commit The write is controlled by the buffer manager. What is a lock? A lock is the mechanism that controls access to data pages and table spaces. What is meant by isolation level? This is a key concept for any relational database Isolation level is the manner in which locks are applied and released during a transaction For DB2 a 'repeatable read' holds all locks until the Transaction completes or a sync point is issued. For transactions using 'cursor stability' the page lock releases are issued as the cursor 'moves', ie as the transaction releases address ability to the records. Q1 - What is SPUFI & QMF ? Ans - SPUFI - Sql Processing Using File Input QMF - Query Management Facility Both of them are DB2 interactive menu-driven tools used by developers to create & modify database objects. Q2 - Name a few utilities available in DB2 ? Ans - LOAD MERGE MODIFY QUIESCE REBUILD RECOVER REORG REPORT REPAIR RUNSTATS Q3 - What are the different COLUMN functions ? Ans - SUM-Returns the total value. MIN-Returns the minimum value. AVG-Returns the average value. MAX-Returns the maximum value. COUNT-Returns the number of selected rows. STDDEV-Returns the standard deviation of the column values. VARIANCE- Returns the variance of the column values. Q4 - What is a scalar function ? Ans - A scalar function also produces a single value, but unlike the argument of a column function, an argument of a scalar function is a single value. Q5 - What is a COLUMN function ? Ans - A column function produces a single value for a group of rows. You can use the SQL column functions to calculate values based on entire columns of data. The calculated values are from selected rows only (all rows that satisfy the WHERE clause).

Q6 - What are the different types of Table spaces ? Ans - Simple Table Space Segmented Table Space Partitioned Table Space Q7 - What is Cursor Stability(CS) ? Ans - A page lock is held only while the cursor is positioned on that page. When the cursor moves to another page, the lock is released. When a page is locked concurrent application programs cannot update or delete a row of the locked page. The current lock is not released until a new lock is acquired. If an application program updates or deletes data, the lock is held until the data is committed. CS applies only to data that is read. All changed data remains locked until COMMIT or ROLLBACK. Q8 - What is the purpose of a null indicator variable? and what are the possible values in the variable and what do they mean ? Ans - A Null Indicator is used to indicate whether the host variable has been assigned a null. It used to indicate whether a retrieved character value has been truncated. It is used to set a column to null. The indicator value of –1 means the associated host variable contains null. 0 means the associated host variable does not contain null, nor the returned value is truncated. –2 means the associated host variable contains null due to a numeric or arithmetic conversion error. >0 means the value assigned to the host variable is truncated. The value represented by the indicator variable is the actual length of the character value before truncation. Q9 - What is commit and rollback ? Ans - A commit occurs automatically at the end of the program, or by request one or more times during the execution of the program. Releases all locks acquired by the program since the last commit, so that other programs and users may obtain access to the data. Any open cursors are automatically closed. All database changes are made permanent.If any changes made to the tables are not appropriate, then all the changes must by rolled back resulting in the same state of data as they were prior to making changes. Release all locks acquired by the program. Q10 - In a single table,How to retrieve a employee-id of an employee who works in more than one department? Ans:Select emp_idfromemployeegroup by emp_id,depthaving count(*)>1; Q11 - How can you split a table in to exactly half? Q12 - Say CUST Table contains records like: CUSTNO CUSTNAME CUSTLOC 100 ABC SSS 200 XYZ 300 PQR 400 MNO WWW 500 CVV ------------- -------------Now write a query to retrieve all records with CUSTLOC no data. SELECT * FROM CUST WHERE CUSTLOC IS NULL Q13 - A Table feild is declared as Decimal(7,2). I want to insert the decimal in to this column thrucobol-db2 program. How should I declare my local input file variable or any suggestion? 01 dec pic 9(5).9(2). is equal to dec(7,2) Q14 - what is check point and restart Logic ? why do we go for that ?? Check point and restart logic are mainly used when our table has 1000 records and we are getting abend after 100 records and we want to start the execution after 100th record we use this.for this we have to use check points for every 100 recordsQ40) what needs to be done if a table is in copy pending / check pending status? Use repair utility REPAIR SET TABLESPACE DATABASE.TABLESPACENAME NOCOPYPEND

REPAIR SET TABLESPACE DATABASE.TABLESPACENAME NORCVRPEND REPAIR SET TABLESPACE DATABASE.TABLESPACENAME NOCHECKPEND 1) How would you find out the total number of rows in a DB2 table? Use SELECT COUNT(*) ... in db2 query 2) How do you eliminate duplicate values in DB2 SELECT? Use SELECT DISTINCT ... in db2 query 3) How do you select a row using indexes in DB2? Specify the indexed columns in the WHERE clause of db2 query. 4) How do you find the maximum value in a column in db2? Use SELECT MAX(...) .. in db2 query 5) How do you retrieve the first 5 characters of FIRSTNAME column of DB2 table EMP ? SQL Query : SELECT SUBSTR(FIRSTNAME,1,5) FROM EMP; 6) What are aggregate functions? Bulit-in mathematical functions for use in SELECT clause. 7) Can you use MAX on a CHAR column? YES. 8) My SQL statement SELECT AVG(SALARY) FROM EMP yields inaccurate results. Why? Because SALARY is not declared to have NULLs and the employees for whom the salary is not known are also counted. 9) How do you concatenate the FIRSTNAME and LASTNAME from EMP table to give a complete name? SELECT FIRSTNAME ‘ ‘ LASTNAME FROM EMP; 10) What is the use of VALUE function? 1. Avoid -ve SQLCODEs by handling nulls and zeroes in computations 2. Substitute a numeric value for any nulls used in computation 11) What is UNION,UNION ALL? – UNION : eliminates duplicates UNION ALL: retains duplicates Both these are used to combine the results of different SELECT statements. Suppose I have five SQL SELECT statements connected by UNION/UNION ALL, how many times should I specify UNION to eliminate the duplicate rows? Once. 12) What is the restriction on using UNION in embedded SQL? It has to be in a CURSOR.

13) In the WHERE clause what is BETWEEN and IN? – BETWEEN supplies a range of values while IN supplies a list of values. 14) Is BETWEEN inclusive of the range values specified? – Yes. 15) What is 'LIKE' used for in WHERE clause? What are the wildcard characters? LIKE is used for partial string matches. ‘%’ ( for a string of any character ) and ‘_’ (for any single character ) are the two wild card characters. 16) When do you use a LIKE statement? To do partial search e.g. to search employee by name, you need not specify the complete name; using LIKE, you can search for partial string matches. 17) What is the meaning of underscore ( ‘_’ ) in the LIKE statement? – Match for any single character. 18) What do you accomplish by GROUP BY ... HAVING clause? – GROUP BY partitions the selected rows on the distinct values of the column on which you group by. HAVING selects GROUPs which match the criteria specified 19) Consider the employee table with column PROJECT nullable. How can you get a list of employees who are not assigned to any project? SELECT EMPNO FROM EMP WHERE PROJECT IS NULL; 20) What is the result of this query if no rows are selected: SELECT SUM(SALARY) FROM EMP WHERE QUAL=‘MSC’; NULL 21) Why SELECT * is not preferred in embedded SQL programs? For three reasons: If the table structure is changed ( a field is added ), the program will have to be modified Program might retrieve the columns which it might not use, leading on I/O over head. The chance of an index only scan is lost. What are correlated subqueries? A subquery in which the inner ( nested ) query refers back to the table in the outer query. Correlated subqueries must be evaluated for each qualified row of the outer query that is referred to. 22) What are the issues related with correlated subqueries?

23) What is a cursor? Why should it be used? – Cursor is a programming device that allows the SELECT to find a set of rows but return them one at a time. Cursor should be used because the host language can deal with only one row at a time. 24) How would you retrieve rows from a DB2 table in embedded SQL? – Either by using the single row SELECT statements, or by using the CURSOR. Apart from cursor, what other ways are available to you to retrieve a row from a table in embedded SQL? Single row SELECTs. 25) Where would you specify the DECLARE CURSOR statement? – See answer to next question. 26) How do you specify and use a cursor in a COBOL program? – Use DECLARE CURSOR statement either in working storage or in procedure division (before open cursor), to specify the SELECT statement. Then use OPEN, FETCH rows in a loop and finally CLOSE. 27) What happens when you say OPEN CURSOR? If there is an ORDER BY clause, rows are fetched, sorted and made available for the FETCH statement. Other wise simply the cursor is placed on the first row. 28) Is DECLARE CURSOR executable? No. 29) Can you have more than one cursor open at any one time in a program? – Yes. 30) When you COMMIT, is the cursor closed? Yes. 31) How do you leave the cursor open after issuing a COMMIT? ( for DB2 2.3 or above only ) Use WITH HOLD option in DECLARE CURSOR statement. But, it has not effect in psuedo-conversational CICS programs. 32) Give the COBOL definition of a VARCHAR field. A VARCHAR column REMARKS would be defined as follows:... 10 REMARKS. 49 REMARKS-LEN PIC S9(4) USAGE COMP. 49 REMARKS-TEXT PIC X(1920). 33) What is the physical storage length of each of the following DB2 data types:

DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP? DATE: 4bytes TIME: 3bytes TIMESTAMP: 10bytes 34) What is the COBOL picture clause of the following DB2 data types: DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP? DATE: PIC X(10) TIME : PIC X(08) TIMESTAMP: PIC X(26) 35) What is the COBOL picture clause for a DB2 column defined as DECIMAL(11,2)? - PIC S9(9)V99 COMP-3. Note: In DECIMAL(11,2), 11 indicates the size of the data type and 2 indicates the precision. 36) What is DCLGEN ? DeCLarations GENerator: used to create the host language copy books for the table definitions. Also creates the DECLARE table. 37) What are the contents of a DCLGEN? 1. EXEC SQL DECLARE TABLE statement which gives the layout of the table/view in terms of DB2 datatypes. 2. A host language copy book that gives the host variable definitions for the column names. 38) Is it mandatory to use DCLGEN? If not, why would you use it at all? It is not mandatory to use DCLGEN. Using DCLGEN, helps detect wrongly spelt column names etc. during the precompile stage itself ( because of the DECLARE TABLE ). DCLGEN being a tool, would generate accurate host variable definitions for the table reducing chances of error. 39) Is DECLARE TABLE in DCLGEN necessary? Why it used? It not necessary to have DECLARE TABLE statement in DCLGEN. This is used by the pre-compiler to validate the table-name, view-name, column name etc., during pre-compile. 40) Will precompile of an DB2-COBOL program bomb, if DB2 is down? No. Because the precompiler does not refer to the DB2 catalogue tables. 41) How is a typical DB2 batch pgm executed? 1. Use DSN utility to run a DB2 batch program from native TSO. An example is shown: DSN SYSTEM(DSP3) RUN PROGRAM(EDD470BD) PLAN(EDD470BD) LIB('ED 01T.OBJ.LOADLIB') END 2. Use IKJEFT01 utility program to run the above DSN command in a JCL.

Assuming that a site’s standard is that pgm name = plan name, what is the easiest way to find out which pgms are affected by change in a table’s structure ? Query the catalogue tables SYSPLANDEP and SYSPACKDEP. 42) Name some fields from SQLCA. SQLCODE, SQLERRM, SQLERRD 43) How can you quickly find out the # of rows updated after an update statement? Check the value stored in SQLERRD(3). 44) What is EXPLAIN? EXPLAIN is used to display the access path as determined by the optimizer for a SQL statement. It can be used in SPUFI (for single SQL statement) or in BIND step (for embedded SQL). 45) What do you need to do before you do EXPLAIN? Make sure that the PLAN_TABLE is created under the AUTHID. 46) Where is the output of EXPLAIN stored? – In userid.PLAN_TABLE 47) EXPLAIN has output with MATCHCOLS = 0. What does it mean? – A nonmatching index scan if ACCESSTYPE = I. 48) How do you do the EXPLAIN of a dynamic SQL statement? 1. Use SPUFI or QMF to EXPLAIN the dynamic SQL statement 2. Include EXPLAIN command in the embedded dynamic SQL statements 49) How do you simulate the EXPLAIN of an embedded SQL statement in SPUFI/QMF? Give an example with a host variable in WHERE clause.) Use a question mark in place of a host variable (or an unknown value). e.g. SELECT EMP_NAME FROM EMP WHERE EMP_SALARY > ? 50) What are the isolation levels possible? – CS: Cursor Stability RR: Repeatable Read 51) What is the difference between CS and RR isolation levels? CS: Releases the lock on a page after use RR: Retains all locks acquired till end of transaction 52) Where do you specify them ?

ISOLATION LEVEL is a parameter for the bind process. 53) When do you specify the isolation level? How? During the BIND process. ISOLATION (CS/RR )... I use CS and update a page. Will the lock be released after I am done with that page? No. 54) What are the various locking levels available? PAGE, TABLE, TABLESPACE 55) How does DB2 determine what lock-size to use? 1. Based on the lock-size given while creating the tablespace 2. Programmer can direct the DB2 what lock-size to use 3. If lock-size ANY is specified, DB2 usually chooses a lock-size of PAGE 56) What are the disadvantages of PAGE level lock? High resource utilization if large updates are to be done How would you retrieve rows from a DB2 table in embedded SQL? Either by using the single row SELECT statements, or by using the CURSOR Apart from cursor, what other ways are available to you to retrieve a row from a table in embedded SQL? Single row SELECTs How do you specify and use a cursor in a COBOL program? Use DECLARE CURSOR statement either in working storage or in procedure division(before open cursor), to specify the SELECT statement Then use OPEN, FETCH rows in a loop and finally CLOSE What happens when you say OPEN CURSOR? If there is an ORDER BY clause, rows are fetched, sorted and made available for the FETCH statement Other wise simply the cursor is placed on the first row Is DECLARE CURSOR executable? No Can you have more than one cursor open at any one time in a program? Yes When you COMMIT, is the cursor closed? Yes How do you leave the cursor open after issuing a COMMIT? ( for DB2 23 or above only) Use WITH HOLD option in DECLARE CURSOR statement But, it has not effect in psuedo-conversational CICS programs Give the COBOL definition of a VARCHAR field A VARCHAR column REMARKS would be defined as follows: 10 REMARKS 49 REMARKS-LEN PIC S9(4) USAGE COMP 49 REMARKS-TEXT PIC X(1920)

2)

What is the physical storage length of each of the following DB2 data types: DATE, TIME, TIMESTAMP and its picture clause in COBOL. DATE: 4bytes DATE: PIC X(10) TIME: 3bytes TIME PIC X(08) TIMESTAMP: 10bytes TIMESTAMP: PIC X(26) What is the COBOL picture clause for a DB2 column defined as DECIMAL(11,2)? PIC S9(9)V99 COMP-3 Note: In DECIMAL(11,2), 11 indicates the size of the data type and 2 indicates the precision What is DCLGEN ? Declaration Generator: used to create the host language copy books for the table definitions Also creates the DECLARE table What are the contents of a DCLGEN? EXEC SQL DECLARE TABLE statement which gives the layout of the table/view in terms of DB2 datatypes. A host language copy book that gives the host variable definitions for the column Names. it mandatory to use DCLGEN? If not, why would you use it at all? It is not mandatory to use DCLGEN Using DCLGEN, helps detect wrongly spelt column names etc during the pre- compile stage itself ( because of the DECLARE TABLE ) DCLGEN being a tool, would generate accurate host variable definitions for the table reducing chances of error. Is DECLARE TABLE in DCLGEN necessary?Why it used? It not necessary to have DECLARE TABLE statement in DCLGEN This is used by the pre-compiler to validate the table-name, view-name, column name etc, during pre-compile. Will pre-compile of an DB2-COBOL program bomb, if DB2 is down? No Because the pre-compiler does not refer to the DB2 catalogue tables How is a typical DB2 batch Program gm executed ? Use DSN utility to run a DB2 batch program from native TSO An example is shown: DSN SYSTEM(DSP3) RUN PROGRAM(EDD470BD) PLAN(EDD470BD) LIB('ED01TOBJLOADLIB') END Use IKJEFT01 utility program to run the above DSN command in a JCL Assuming that a site's standard is that pgm name = plan name, what is the easiest way to find out which pgms are affected by change in a table's structure ? Query the catalogue tables SYSPLANDEP and SYSPACKDEP Name some fields from SQLCA. SQLCODE, SQLERRM, SQLERRD How can you Quickly find out the # of rows updated after an update statement? Check the value stored in SQLERRD(3) What is EXPLAIN? EXPLAIN is used to display the access path as determined by the optimizer for a SQL statement It can be used in SPUFI (for single SQL statement ) or in BIND

step (for embedded SQL ). What do you need to do before you do EXPLAIN? Make sure that the PLAN_TABLE is created under the AUTHID Where is the output of EXPLAIN stored? In userid PLAN_TABLE EXPLAIN has output with MATCHCOLS = 0 What does it mean? A non matching index scan if ACCESSTYPE = I How do you do the EXPLAIN of a dynamic SQL statement? 1. Use SPUFI or MF to EXPLAIN the dynamic SQL statement 2. Include EXPLAIN command in the embedded dynamic SQL statements How do you simulate the EXPLAIN of an embedded SQL statement in SPUFI/MF? Give an example with a host variable in WHERE clause) Use a Question mark in place of a host variable ( or an unknown value ) eg SELECT EMP_NAME FROM EMP WHERE EMP_SALARY > ? What are the isolation levels possible ? CS: Cursor Stability RR: Repeatable Read What is the difference between CS and RR isolation levels? CS: Releases the lock on a page after use RR: Retains all locks acquired till end of transaction Where do you specify them ? ISOLATION LEVEL is a parameter for the bind process When do you specify the isolation level?How? During the BIND process ISOLATION ( CS/RR ) I use CS and update a page Will the lock be released after I am done with that page? No What are the various locking levels available? PAGE, TABLE, TABLESPACE How does DB2 determine what lock-size to use? 1. Based on the lock-size given while creating the tablespace 2. Programmer can direct the DB2 what lock-size to use 3. If lock-size ANY is specified, DB2 usually choses a lock-size of PAGE What are the disadvantages of PAGE level lock? High resource utilization if large updates are to be done. What are the different data types in DB2? Ans - Smallint Integer DECIMAL FLOAT Character,Varcharacter Graphic,Vargraphic Date Time

Timestamp Q2 - What is a view ? What are the advantages and restrictions of using a view ? Ans - A view is a virtual table derived from one or more base tables. It prevents unauthorized users from having access to sensitive data. Cannot insert, delete or update a view, which is based on more than one base table. Q3 - What do you mean by referential Integrity? Ans - Referential integrity is a condition wherein all references from one table to another are valid. It is the enforcement of all referential constraints(a rule that the value of a foreign key must appear as the value of a primary key of some other specific table.) Q4 - What is a Subquery ? Ans - A subquery is a query that is written as part of another query's WHERE clause. Q5 - What is corrleated subquery ? Ans - A correlated subquery is one that has a correlation name as a table or view designator in the FROM clause of the outer query and the same correlation name as qualifier of a search condition in the WHERE clause of the subquery. Q6 - How does the processing of correlated subquery differ from a noncorrelated ? Ans - The subquery in a correlated subquery is reevaluated for every row of the table or view named on the outer query, while the subquery Of a noncorrelated subquery is evaluated only once. Q7 - What is DB2 bind ? Ans - A bind is a process that builds 'access paths' to DB2 tables. A bind uses the Database Request module(s) from the DB2 precompile step as input and produces an application plan. It also checks the user's authority and validates the SQL Statements in the DBRM. Q8 - What is a plan? Ans - A plan in db2 produced during the bind process. One or more database request modules with a plan name. Q9 - What is a synonym? How is it used? Ans - A synonym is used to reference a table or view by another name. The other name can then be written in the application code pointing to test tables in the development stage and to production entities when the code is migrated.The synonym is linked to the AUTHID that created it. Q10 - What is an alias and how does it differ from a synonym? Ans - An alias is an alternative to a synonym, designed for a distributed environment to avoid having to use the location qualifier of a table or view. The alias is not dropped when the table is dropped. Q11 - Describe the primary key and the foreign key? Ans - The primary key is a column or a set of columns that provide a unique identifier to each row of a table. The foreign key is a column or a set of columns that refers to the primary key of another table. Q12 - What is DDL and DML?

Ans : black"> - DDL - Data Definition Language (CREATE, ALTER, TRUNCATE) DML - Data Manipulation Language (SELECT, INSERT, DELETE & UPDATE) Q13 - What is DCLGEN? Ans - DCLGEN stands for declarations generator; it is a facility to generate DB2 sql data structures in COBOL or PL/I programs. Q14 - What is the significance of the CURSOR WITH HOLD clause in a cursor declaration? Ans - The clause avoids closing the cursor and repositioning it to the last row processed when the cursor is reopened. Q15 - What are the three lock types? Ans - The three types are shared, update and exclusive. Shared locks allow two or more programs to read simultaneously but not change the locked space.An exclusive lock bars all other users from accessing the space.An update lock is less restrictive; it allows other transactions to read or acquire shared locks on the space. Q16 - What is deadlock ? Ans - Deadlock occurs when transactions executing at the same time lock each other out of data that they need to complete their logical units of work. Q17 - What is the difference between group by and order by ? Ans - Group by controls the presentation of the rows, order by controls the presentation of the columns for the results of the SELECT statement. Q18 - What is a clustered index ? Ans - For a clustered index DB2 maintains rows in the same sequence as the columns in the index for as long as there is free space. DB2 can then process that table in that order efficiently. Q19 - What is the equivalent cobol definiton for the datatypes in DB2 ? Ans - Smallint - S9(4) COMP or S9(4) COMP-4 Integer - S9(9) COMP or S9(9) COMP-4 Char(N) - PIC X(N) Varchar(N) - 01 NAME. 49 NAME-LEN PIC S9(4) USAGE COMP. 49 NAME-TEXT PIC X(N). DECIMAL(P,S) - If p<19:> Q20 - How do you add columns to an existing table ? Ans - ALTER table command can be used to add columns to an existing table. What are leaf pages? They are the opposite of root pages Leaf pages are the lowest level index pages - the pages that contain index entries and information to the corresponding table rows. What is a pre-compiler? It is a DB2 facility for static SQL statements - it replaces these statements with calls to the DB2 language interface module. What is a root page? The opposite of a leaf page; it is the highest level index page An index can contain only the one root page; all other index pages are associated to the root.

What is a thread? A thread is the connection between DB2 and some other subsystem, such as CICS or IMS/DC. What is Bind ? What are the different bind parameters ? Bind is a process where the DBRM’S are converted into a Plan which is an executable module containing the access path logic produced by the DB2 optimizer. It also does syntax checking of the SQL code in the DBRM’S and authorization checking. PLAN NAME – Name of the plan ACTION ON PLAN – ADD or REPLACE. – This parameter controls whether the existing plan will be replaced by the newly built plan (with this bind) or a new plan will be created. RETAIN – To retain or not the old authorities. The retain specification makes DB2 decide whether the authorizations of the user who did the previous BIND of the plan will be retained for the new plan. ISOLATION LEVEL – CS and RR – This parameter helps DB2 in deciding the duration of PAGE LOCKS required by the application program. VALIDATION – RUN or BIND. To tell whether authorization will be checked at rou or bind time. ACQUIRE – USE or ALLOCATE. – This parameter controls the table space to be maintained over the resource used by the program. It decides the duration for which these locks should be held RELEASE – COMMIT or DEALLOCATE- This parameter specifies to DB2 when the table space locks ACQUIRED earlier by the program should be RELESED EXPLAIN – YES or NO OWNER – AUTH ID – primary authorization. PREPARE – YES or NO. What is Rebind and Bind (replace)? Rebind has to be done if the plan o r package is invalid. What is an index ? what for it is ? An index is an ordered set of pointers to the data in the DB2 table, stored separately from the table. This is used to improve performance and ensure uniqueness (only for unique index) . How many indexes can be built on a table ? How many clustering indexes can be built on a table ? Only one. What is a clustering index ? what is REORG ? its uses ? when will we do REORG ? Clustering index causes the data rows to be stored in the order specified in the index. A mandatory index defined on a partitioned table space. Only one clustering indexes can be defined for a table. REORG reorganizes data on physical storage to re-cluster rows, positioning overflowed rows in their proper sequence, to reclaim space, to restore free space. It is used after heavy updates, inserts and deletes activity and after segments of a segmented tables space have became fragmented. What is a filter factor? For a table space scan , the FF Should be high or low? Filter Factor is one divided by the number of distinct values of a column? Filter Factors eliminate non-qualifying rows from the estimate of the access cost for the various access methods. Usually, only a subset of rows will qualify to be returned for each particular predicate on the WHERE clause. The lower the filter factor for a given predicate, the more likely DB2 will choose that predicate's access path for the plan, assuming it participates in an index. Every predicate has a filter factor, and these values are used to calculate QCARD and DMCARD

for the SQL statement; that is, the number of rows returned to the user (query cardinality) and the number of Stage 1 calls (Data Manager cardinality). The ultimate purpose of applying the filters is to estimate the number of rows Returned. What is RUNSTATS? When will you do this? After RUNSTATS what will you do? A DB2 utility used to collect statistics about the data values in tables which can be used by the optimizer to decide the access path. It also collects statistics used for space management. These statistics are stored in DB2 catalog tables. After a load, or after mass updates, inserts, deletes, or after REORG we will chose to run RUNSTATS. Some example of statistics collected during RUNSTARTS # of rows in the table Percent of rows in clustering sequence # of distinct values of indexed column # of rows moved to a nearby/faraway page due to row length increase. What is 'explain' command? EXPLAIN is used to display the access path as determined by the optimizer for a SQL stmt . It can be used in SPUFI(for single SQL statement) or in BIND step(for embedded SQL). What is an indicator variable? An Indicator variable is a small integer used to indicate whether its associated host variable is null. How do you declare an indicator variable? An Indicator variable is preceded by a colon(:) and coded immediately after the host variable. The variable has to be declared in the working storage section. Example: :DEPT:DEPT-IND Where DEPT-IND is an Indicator variable. What is a cursor? Cursor is programming device that allows the SELECT to find a set of rows but return them one at a time. Cursor should be used because the host language can deal with only one row at a time. A cursor is a named control structure used to make multiple number of rows available to a program and then to process the selected table data one row at a time (similar to reading a sequential file) Where do you declare the cursor in program? Working storage. What is 'with hold' option in cursor? At the end of a Commit or Rollback the cursor will be closed and has to be reopened again. If we want the cursor to be opened even after the Commit or Rollback, ‘with hold’ option has to specified on the Declare cursor statement. Example: DECLARE DEPTCUR CURSOR WITH HOLD FOR SELECT EMPNO, ENAME, SALARY FROM EMPTABLE FOR UPDATE OF SALARY Cannot be used in programs that are not pseudo conversational. Can we update/delete via a cursor? What are the restrictions on this? Update / delete is possible via cursor. Only the current row is updated/deleted. How can you find the no of rows of a column? Use SELECT COUNT(*) When, views are not up-datable ? Non-up-datable views are views which are joins, views that contain aggregate

functions (such as MIN), and views that have GROUP BY clause. Some views are up-datable ex: single table view with all the fields or mandatory fields. What is a correlated sub query? A sub-query in which the (nested) inner query refers back to the table in the outer query. Correlated sub-queries must be evaluated for each qualified row of the outer query that is referred to. What is normalization and what are the five normal forms? Normalization is a design procedure for representing data in tabular format. The five normal forms are progressive rules to represent the data with minimal redundancy. What techniques are used to retrieve data from more than one table in a single SQL statement? Joins, unions and nested selects are used to retrieve data. 1) How would you find out the total number of rows in a DB2 table? Use SELECT COUNT(*) ... in db2 query 2) How do you eliminate duplicate values in DB2 SELECT? Use SELECT DISTINCT ... in db2 query 3) How do you select a row using indexes in DB2? Specify the indexed columns in the WHERE clause of db2 query. 4) How do you find the maximum value in a column in db2? Use SELECT MAX(...) .. in db2 query 5) How do you retrieve the first 5 characters of FIRSTNAME column of DB2 table EMP ? SQL Query : SELECT SUBSTR(FIRSTNAME,1,5) FROM EMP; 6) What are aggregate functions? Bulit-in mathematical functions for use in SELECT clause. 7) Can you use MAX on a CHAR column? YES. 8) My SQL statement SELECT AVG(SALARY) FROM EMP yields inaccurate results. Why? Because SALARY is not declared to have NULLs and the employees for whom the salary is not known are also counted. 9) How do you concatenate the FIRSTNAME and LASTNAME from EMP table to give a complete name? SELECT FIRSTNAME ‘ ‘ LASTNAME FROM EMP; 10) What is the use of VALUE function? 1. Avoid -ve SQLCODEs by handling nulls and zeroes in computations 2. Substitute a numeric value for any nulls used in computation 11) What is UNION,UNION ALL? – UNION : eliminates duplicates UNION ALL: retains duplicates Both these are used to combine the results of different SELECT statements.

3)

Suppose I have five SQL SELECT statements connected by UNION/UNION ALL, how many times should I specify UNION to eliminate the duplicate rows? Once. 12) What is the restriction on using UNION in embedded SQL? It has to be in a CURSOR. 13) In the WHERE clause what is BETWEEN and IN? – BETWEEN supplies a range of values while IN supplies a list of values. 14) Is BETWEEN inclusive of the range values specified? – Yes. 15) What is 'LIKE' used for in WHERE clause? What are the wildcard characters? – LIKE is used for partial string matches. ‘%’ ( for a string of any character ) and ‘_’ (for any single character ) are the two wild card characters. 16) When do you use a LIKE statement? To do partial search e.g. to search employee by name, you need not specify the complete name; using LIKE, you can search for partial string matches. 17) What is the meaning of underscore ( ‘_’ ) in the LIKE statement? – Match for any single character. 18) What do you accomplish by GROUP BY ... HAVING clause? – GROUP BY partitions the selected rows on the distinct values of the column on which you group by. HAVING selects GROUPs which match the criteria specified 19) Consider the employee table with column PROJECT nullable. How can you get a list of employees who are not assigned to any project? SELECT EMPNO FROM EMP WHERE PROJECT IS NULL; VSAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM What is the REPRO command? While a new cluster is created using IDCAMS, cluster will be empty. By using the REPRO command, we can load records into the cluster. REPRO is used to: Copy Datasets (VSAM or NON-VSAM), copy catalogs. Convert sequential and index sequential Datasets to VSAM format Convert VSAM and Index sequential Datasets to sequential format Backup VSAM catalog Read a backup copy of VSAM catalogs. Is it slower if you access a record through ALTERNATIVE INDEX as compared to Primary INDEX?

YES. Because the alternate Key would first locate the primary Key, which in turn locates the actual record. Needs twice the number of I/Os. What is RECOVERY and SPEED parameters in DEFINE CLUSTER command? RECOVERY (default) and SPEED are mutually exclusive. Recovery pre-formats the control areas during the initial DataSet load, if the job fails, you can restart but you must have a recovery routine already written to restart the job. SPEED does not pre-format the CAs. It is recommended that you specify SPEED to speed up your initial data load. What is a SHAREOPTIONS parameter (SHR) in Define Cluster command. It defines the cross-region and cross-system sharing capabilities of the DataSet. Syntax is SHR (CRvalue CSvalue) 1 means multiple read OR single write (read integrity) 2 means multiple read AND single write (Write integrity) 3 means Multiple read AND multiple write 4 is same as 3, which refreshes the buffer with every random access. Default is SHR (1 3). What are the optional parameters to the input DataSet While loading the empty cluster with the data records? i) Skip and Count Syntax: SKIP(2) COUNT(4) In this case, the first two records are skipped and the next four records are printed. The default for SKIP is 0, and for COUNT will be printing records from beginning to end. ii) FromKey and ToKey PRINT INDATASET (CUSTOMER.KSDS.CLUSTER) FROMKEY (111111) TOKEY (444444) Will print all records with Key value ranging from 111111 to 444444. iii) FROMADDRESS and TOADDRESS iv) FROMNUMBER and TONUMBER What does GDG mean in VSAM? Generation Data Group Is a delete operation possible in an ESDS? Is rewrite operation possible in ESDS ? No. Delete operation is not possible in VSAM ESDS. Yes, rewrite operation is possible in an ESDS.

Can VSAM files be deleted with the DELETE option of the DISPOSITION parameter of JCL? No, you have to give a separate DELETE command in the VSAM cluster. How many buffers are allocated to VSAM KSDS and ESDS? 2 data buffers by default for ESDS. For KSDS it allots 2 data buffers and 1 index buffers. Each buffer is about 4k. What are the codes returned by the AMS (Access Method Services) command during the execution? Every AMS command issues a condition code. If multiple commands are being executed Successively, there might be a requirement to execute or bypass certain commands on the Success or failure of a previous command. The normal condition codes returned by AMS commands are : 0 - The function was executed successfully 4 - A problem was encountered while executing the function, WARNING 8 - The requested function was executed, but major specifies were unavoidably bypassed, ERROR 12 - The requested command could not be performed because of a logical error, SEVERE 16 - A severe error occurred causing the remainder of the command stream to be bypassed., FATAL. What are the 3 types of VSAM files ? 1-ESDS (Entry sequenced dataset). DB2 uses a special type of ESDS. 2-RRDS (Relative record dataset). Records are accessed using a relative number. 3-KSDS (Key sequenced dataset) is the most common type encountered. The record sequence is determined by a unique key field. How do you create a VSAM file ? You use the IDCAMS utility with the DEFINE CLUSTER option. How do you copy to a VSAM cluster ? You use the IDCAMS utility with the REPRO option. In ESDS, do we have the facility of accessing the records randomly? YES, Random access of records is possible. Records however cannot be deleted. We can do it By referring the RBA (relative byte address). Why is the space is kept in data component of the KSDS Dataset? Free space specified during the allocation of the KSDS is left at regular intervals during the initial load of the data set. This space helps keep the data component in physical sequence in spite of Random insertions. What is the difference b/w the ESDS and KSDS?

ESDS doesn’t have imbedded free space. The KEYS parameter has no meaning in the context of ESDS ESDS has no index component An additional parameter, NONINDEXED is used to tell AMS that an ESDS is being allocated. How is LDS different from ESDS? An LDS is a data set; very similar to an ESDS without the control information .It has no records and used for fast random access. It takes advantages of the computer’s very fast paging hardware for retrieval and storage and the bytes are implicitly divided into 4K blocks or pages, and the paging hardware reads and writes blocks from disk. There is no free space, unused space, control field in LDS. What is a CI, Control Interval? A Control Interval is the unit of information that VSAM transfers between virtual and auxiliary storage. What is a CA, control area? A group of Control Intervals makes up a control area. What is Control Interval Split? A new record stored in same CI, only if there is enough space. If not VSAM locates the free CI within the same CA, moves approximately half of the records to next CI and stores the new record at the correct position. This is called Control Interval Split. Whenever CI split occurs the sequence set is updated.

If the records are larger than the CI size, for ex. if a record extend CI boundary and extends unto 3 CI, and there is still some space left in last i.e. third CI, will that be used by other CI Datasets ? NO. Some records are larger than the CI size, the records extend across CI boundaries (only for ESDS and KSDS). A spanned record begins on a CI boundary and it occupies two or more CIs in a CA. The unused space in the last CI can only be used to extend the record, it cannot contain any other record i.e. a new record has to be added in a new CI. What is a sequence set? This is the part of the index that points to the CA and CI of the record being accessed. What is a cluster? A cluster is the combination of the index, sequence set and data portions of the Dataset. The operating system gives program access to the cluster, i.e. to all parts of the Dataset simultaneously. What is the index set? This is the other part of the index. It has multiple levels with pointers that ultimately reach to the sequence set.

What is a Catalog? The catalog contains the names of all Datasets, VSAM and non-VSAM. It is used to access these Datasets. What is an alternate index? An AIX is a file that allows access to a VSAM Dataset by a Key other than the primary one. The Alternate Key-pointer pair records are stored in an index cluster. This index cluster is known as Alternate index. The alternate Key-pointer pair records are loaded into the alternate index cluster by the command BLDINDEX.AIX can be built over a KSDS and ESDS, but not over an RRDS. What could be the maximum number of the AIXs per base cluster? There can be a maximum of 253 AIXs per base cluster. It is not advisable to have more than 5 AIXs per base cluster because of additional overhead during updates and retrievals. Can AIX be defined over an ESDS, which does not have any Key? Although an ESDS does not have a primary Key, an AIX can be defined over an ESDS. In the case of an ESDS it is the relative byte address of the corresponding record in the base cluster that is stored. Can we access records in VSAM only by a single Key, i.e. primary Key? It is also possible to access the records in a sequence other than that of the primary Key. Such Keys are called alternate Keys and they can be non-unique. For Example, in a pay-roll system where employee number is the unique primary Key and the Employee name as alternate Key. What is the 'verify' command in the VSAM files? This command is used to close those files that are kept open after the abnormal termination of the file. It also brings the index component in sync with the data components and updates the catalog. What is a path? A path is a file that allows you to access a file by alternate index - the path provides an association between the AIX and the base cluster. What is the upgrade set? The upgrade set is the list of all AIXs that VSAM must maintain for a specific base cluster, so that when data in the base cluster is updated, the AIX files are also updated. What is free space? Free space is reserved within the data component of a KSDS to accommodate inserting new records. What is IDCAMS? and what is the purpose of it?. IDCAMS, also known as Access Method Services, is used to perform the following tasks: Create a VSAM data set, VSAM alternate index, or catalog. List a catalog entry for a data set, Dataset/catalog contents. Copy a Dataset or catalog. Convert non-VSAM to VSAM data set. Load a VSAM Dataset from VSAM records Rename VSAM data sets. What is a VSAM split? If there isn't enough space in the Control Interval VSAM performs a Control Interval split by moving some records to the free Control Intervals. If there isn't a free Control Interval VSAM performs a control area split by allocating a new control area and moving half of the Control Intervals to it.

What is the base cluster? The base cluster consists of the data component and the index component for the primary index of a KSDS. What will happen if there is no secondary allocation made for Datasets? VSAM will inform COBOL program of the problem and terminate the processing of the program. Why CI and CA splits are not possible in ESDS and RRDS? In ESDS the new record is added at the end of last record. And no imbedded free space is allocated at the time of Dataset definition. In the case of RRDS the slots for the records are preallocated and so the CI and CA split is not possible. Do primary Key values have to be unique? Do alternate Key values have to be Unique? Primary Key values must be unique; alternate Key values need not be. In the COBOL SELECT statement what is the ORGANIZATION for a KSDS? The ORGANIZATION is INDEXED. In the COBOL SELECT statement for a KSDS what are the three possibilities for ACCESS? ACCESS can be SEQUENTIAL, RANDOM or DYNAMIC. What is the COBOL RECORD KEY clause? The RECORD KEY in the SELECT clause identifies the files primary Key as it will be known to the program. What is the purpose of the FILE STATUS clause in the SELECT statement? The FILE STATUS field identifies the field that VSAM uses to provide information about each I/O Operation for the file. If you wish to use the REWRITE command how must the VSAM file be opened? It must be opened I/O mode. Explain the meaning and syntax for the START command? The START command is used to read other than the next VSAM record. A value must be moved into the RECORD KEY. The KEY clause is optional, but it can be used to specify a relational (equal, less than, etc.) operator. What is the meaning of dynamic processing? It means one program uses both sequential and random processing for a VSAM KSDS file. It's rarely used. Name some common VSAM error conditions and codes? They are end of file (10), duplicate Key (22), record not found (23), Out of space condition is raised (28) ,VSAM logic error (90), open problem (92) and space problem (93). bIt is a COBOL II enhancement to VSAM batch processing expanding the FILE STATUS field. It is defined in WORKING - STORAGE as a six byte group item with three two byte elements, the normal return code, the function code and the feedback code. What is a VSAM slot? A relative record Dataset (RRDS) consists of a specified number of areas called slots. Each slot is identified by a relative record number (RRN) which indicates its relative position in the file. What is the utility program closely associated with VSAM?

IDCAMS, the access method services utility. There are at least seven IDCAMS commands; name and explain each of them? ALTER modifies information for a catalog, alternate index, cluster or path. BLDINDEX builds the alternate index, of course. DEFINE is used for ALTERNATEINDEX, CLUSTER or PATH. DELETE removes the catalog entry for a catalog, cluster, alternate index or path. LISTCAT lists Information about the Dataset. PRINT prints the Dataset contents. REPRO copies records from one file to another. What are the three levels of definition for the VSAM DEFINE? They are DEFINE CLUSTER, DATA and INDEX. What is the significance of the SHAREOPTIONS parameter? It specifies how the file may be shared between jobs and between batch and CICS Environments. What is the meaning of the DEFINE MODEL parameter? It specifies whether the MODEL parameter allows you to model your cluster by modelling it after an existing cluster. How do you fix the problem associated with VSAM out of space condition? 1. Define new VSAM Dataset allocated with more space. 2. Use IDCAMS to REPRO the old VSAM file to new VSAM Dataset. 3. Use IDCAMS to ALTER / rename the old VSAM Dataset or set IDCAMS to DELETE the old VSAM Dataset. 4. Use IDCAMS to ALTER / rename the new VSAM Dataset to the name of the original VSAM Dataset. In how many ways can you load the data in a VSAM cluster? 1. Using the REPRO command. 2. Using COBOL program

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close